


90 Day Return

by phdmama



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-09
Packaged: 2018-05-12 05:24:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5654038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phdmama/pseuds/phdmama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was all supposed to be mutual promo. That's it. A boyfriend for the winter - Louis can do this.</p><p> </p><p>(Oh my goodness, I never imagined getting a reception for this - thank you ALL who've left kudos and comments, you can't even know how much it means!! I think I might write better from prompts, so if anyone wants to leave me a prompt in comments, I'll do my best with it!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

“No. NO. Absolutely not.”

Louis stared at Alex, his agent, in disbelief.

“I thought…” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair. “The whole fucking point of coming out was to not have to do these stupid stunts!” 

Although his coming out hadn’t been entirely by choice, Louis had to admit, it hadn’t gone quite as badly as he’d thought. When he’d first seen the pap pictures of himself the morning after, stumbling, a bit drunk (let’s be honest he snorted to himself, wasted. Completely wasted.), clinging to that Brazilian underwear model’s arm, that very very MALE model’s arm, he’d panicked. It had completely ruined the afterglow of what had been a very…satisfying evening. Oddly enough, the scandal of London-stage-actor-turned-Hollywood-hearthrob being very, decidedly, not straight was not a total shock in the year 2015. While his team had talked him out of releasing the one-line statement “I REGRET NOTHING”, after several meetings, they’d all agreed that a brief announcement about his sexuality was in order, and boom. Done. Louis was out.

“Louis.” Mark, his PR manager, snapped his fingers under Louis’s nose to get his attention, startling him out of his delightful reverie. “Get your mind out of the gutter, I don’t even want to know. FOCUS PLEASE.”

Louis smirked. “Yeah, okay. Fine.”

That had been about 6 months ago, and after the first month or so of headlines, passionate support from his fans, and the standard Twitter homophobia (Mark had deleted the app from his phone and put parental controls on it to keep Louis from reading, and more likely, responding to the bile spewed at him), things had died down. He hadn’t had a movie being released that summer, so interest quickly turned to other scandals. Louis had been surprised, not to mention quite disappointed, that coming out hadn’t really done anything to improve his love (or sex) life, although his anxiety seemed to have been cut in half, and he was sleeping better than he had since moving to LA 3 years ago, albeit he was sleeping alone.

Anyway. Right. Time to focus. Louis turned his attention back to his management team and the absolutely ridiculous proposition in front of him.

“Why?”

“Why what?” Alex responded, looking away a bit shiftily.

“Why now? I mean, I know work’s been a bit slow…” Louis’s voice trailed off, and then he sighed. 

“Is this because of the rumors that Michael Gideon is casting?” Michael Gideon was the current reigning director of Hollywood. He’d made several films in the last few years, each garnering more praise, and perhaps most important, commercial success than the last. He made Epic Movies™, with big name casts, sweeping sets, interesting characters, and beautiful scripts. Every lead and supporting actor had at least gotten a nomination, if not won an Oscar. Every single actor in Hollywood, and every where elsewhere really, was dying to the get the call that Michael Gideon want to them to read for a part, and Louis was no different. He knew, though, that while he’d enjoyed some amount of commercial success in his last few roles, he wasn’t really Michael Gideon material. He had accepted that he’d been typecast as the rom-com “British best friend” (who knew that was even a trope?). He thought he’d made his peace with it. After all, it was a decent living, it allowed him to have a gorgeous home in the Hollywood Hills, afford some great toys, help support his mum and sisters and brother back home, and even got him laid occasionally. 

“Look.” Alex said, “Louis, I know you’ve settled for your last couple of roles, but you’re good. You’re *really* good, and I think sometimes you forget what a talented actor you are. You were talking last year about wanting to break out of your ‘type’…”

“ALEX, I WAS DRUNK! Never listen to me when I’m drunk!”

Alex snorted, “well, since you inevitably call me at 3 in the morning to talk, I can’t really avoid it.”

Louis conceded this point with a nod. “But honestly, Alex, you can’t think that Gideon would even consider someone like me for one of his films. He’s strictly A-list, and I’m not!”

Alex shrugged. “I heard through the grapevine that this new film is going to be one of these multi-plots things where the stories all come together in the end. It’s a WWII piece, and one of the stories is going to follow a gay couple. British soldiers, Louis, who fall in love. It’s the tragedy story line. I think you’d be amazing in it, and I think Michael..” Louis snorted to himself at Alex’s use of Gideon’s first name, and then remembered that Alex does, in fact, know Michael, and represents other actors who’ve worked in his films. “I think Michael just needs to see you as a charismatic man, a charismatic, sexy, gay man, and how better to show him that than a high-profile romance…with another man.”

“So…what’s the plan?”

“Well, I think the story can be that you meet him at a friend’s Thanksgiving dinner, and the sparks fly. We’ll do the usual, pap walks, dates, romantic New Year’s Eve, maybe a nice vacation in there. I always see Michael at Irving’s post-holiday industry thing in the middle of January. I’ll drop your name, see what he thinks.” Alex looks earnestly at Louis, who can’t help but smile back. “I think you have a shot, Lou, I really do. But since you took some down time this year after the pneumonia…” Louis looked down, then nodded. 

He’d managed to run himself down on his last film shoot, and ended up with a nasty case of pneumonia, which had sidelined him during prime filming season, so he’d ended up sitting this year out. Alex had assured him that this wouldn’t hurt him in the long run (especially since he was actually in no shape to work), but Louis knew he needed to get his face, his name, back out into the world. Louis sighed. He’d been an actor long enough that he knew how the game was played, and it was all in who you knew, who knew who you were. Name recognition was the name of the game.

“So, how long are we talking?” When Louis was just transitioning from stage to film, he’d hoped for more romantic lead roles, and had agreed to a longer-term bearding stunt to profile him as a sexy, commitment kind of guy. He’d genuinely enjoyed spending time with Eleanor, and they were still good friends. Which, of course, was all they’d ever really been, but she’d gotten promo for her fashion design, and he’d gotten…well, not what he’d hoped for, and he’d sworn he wouldn’t do a stunt like that again.

“Not too long.” Alex looked thoughtful for a moment. “I think we can plan on Thanksgiving to…end of January? Something like that. Then you can stop getting papped and we can put out the usual ‘busy schedules, best of friends’ bullshit about the break-up.”

Louis sighed again. “I can’t believe I’m even…”

Alex laid his hand over Louis’s for a moment. “I know, Lou. And if you really don’t want to do, Granger told me he’d happily cast you in his next work, but it’s just more of the same, and you can do better. You can.” He squeezed Louis’s hand, and let go.

“So…did you have anyone in mind?”

Mark and Alex glanced at each other. “Well, pick a genre first - do you want another actor? Musician?” Alex smirked. “Model?”

Louis rolled his eyes, and marveled once more at the falsity of Hollywood. “Um, no actors, they’re crazy. No more models, they can’t eat out.”

“A singer it is!” said Mark, happily. He reached into his briefcase and pulled out a folder. Opened it, and handed Louis a pile of papers. Headshots, Louis noted, with resumes on the back. “I’ve been talking with a couple of the guys at work, and we have a few singers who need some higher visibility too.”

Louis flipped through the pictures. A variety of looks stared up at him in black and white - long hair, short hair, all skin colors, all good looking men. “It seems so…shallow to pick someone just based on looks. I mean, we’re gonna have to spend *some* time together. Do you know any of these guys, Mark? Anyone you think I’d get on with?”

Mark grabbed the pile back, and sorted through it quickly. He pulled out two pictures, and set them down, side by side. The first was of one of the most stunning men Louis had ever seen. He had dark hair styled up into a gorgeous quiff, and the most soulful eyes Louis’d ever seen. “Wait, I know this guy! This is Zayn Malik! He’s got that hot new R&B fusion record that’s supposed to be dropping next month. Jesus, he’s gorgeous. Why does he need promo?” 

Mark said, “He wants to move into a different audience, wider appeal. You bring in the more…wholesome late teen and young women, not to mention the MILFs.” Louis cuffed Mark upside the head gently and said “Oi! Respect my 40-something ladies!” Louis knew that by “wholesome” Mark meant that Malik needed to expand into the white, mainstream market. “He’s actually a great guy, really goofy really, and I think the two of you would get on.”

Louis’s gaze moved to the other photo, and he felt slightly breathless for a moment. The most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, dimples the size of the Grand Canyon, gazed back at him. As the photo was black and white, he couldn’t tell the color of the man’s eyes, though his hair was clearly a darker brown. “Who’s this, then?”

Mark cleared his throat. “That’s Harry Styles, one of the One Direction guys, you know that teen boy band from a couple years back?”

Louis scoffed, “This guy’s no teenager. Wait.” He paused. “He’s not gay, I’d definitely have heard about that.” With the large number of younger siblings he had, Louis was quite well-versed in teen fandom.

“Nah, he’s 21 now, almost 22. The band is trying to rebrand, move into a more mature audience. Same with Malik, they want to get the attention of your fanbase.” Louis had broad appeal, marketing well both to the late teen and early 20s women, as well as to the, as he called them, 40-something ladies. “And,” Mark added, “He wants to come out. He’s not straight, Lou, he’s really gay. As gay as, well, you.” Louis raised one eyebrow at that, but didn’t say anything for a moment. “He’s been closeted for years, and he’s done with it. They’ve been seeding him for a while, I’m surprised you didn’t hear. He needs a romance though.”

“So they’ve both agreed to this?”

Mark nodded. “Yeah, we’re working behind the scenes for both of them. Whichever one you don’t pick will go to Liam Payne, the designer. He’s looking to break into the Hollywood scene, and doesn’t really care which one.”

Louis shook his head, laughing a bit. “It’s like on-line shopping, right? Can I return him if he doesn’t fit?”

Mark laughed too, “90 day return period, Lou, no problem. So, you have a pick?”

Louis looked at the two pictures again, and then tapped the one on the right decisively. “I’ll take Harry.”


	2. The Meeting

Louis took one more look in the mirror. In a laughable effort to have life imitate art, _PR spin really,_ Louis thought to himself, he was actually going to Mark’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. Well, given that Thanksgiving had been the week before, it was not actual Thanksgiving, but it was a dinner party, and it would be the first time that Louis was meeting his new winter boyfriend.It had been a couple of weeks since their meeting, all agents and parties had agreed to the stunt, and all that was needed was to actually get it in motion. Hence the dinner party. Louis was pretty sure “candids” would be leaked later that night.

It was uncharacteristically cool in LA at the moment, especially with the sun setting earlier, so Louis debated for a moment, and then added a loose blazer over his button-up shirt. It was a difficult line, Louis had found, of trying to look both like he’d put some effort into dressing for the event, but not like he was trying too hard to impress. He had to admit, he was looking good. Louis was not a vain man, but he was well-aware that other than being on the shorter side ( _and look at all the harm that did Tom Cruise_ , he snorted to himself), he fit the dominant culture ideal of an attractive man.  The blue of his thin sweater was reflected in his eyes, and paired with a newer pair of black skinny jeans and classic brogues, Louis thought he’d managed to balance that line quite nicely. Grabbing his wallet, phone and keys, he headed out to the garage.

….

When Louis arrived at Mark’s, he noted with interest the other cars parked in the circular driveway. All were the late-model, expensive SUVs that dominated Hollywood culture, except for a fairly battered red Prius with a couple of bumper stickers on the back, one advertising a local Farmer’s Market, and the other urging all who read it to boycott Sea World. Louis looked at the car, puzzled for a moment, and then headed to the door.

As he let himself in, Louis heard the sound of voices and laughter down the hall, where he knew the living room lay. For a moment, he paused. He’d promised himself after things with El “ended” that he would not engage in one of the stunts again, and to be honest, he was more than a little disappointed that something like this was even needed. However, he was also no newcomer to the business, and he had to admit, it was a scheme that made sense.

As he walked down the hall, and the voices got louder, Louis murmured to himself, “Show time.” Entering the room, he looked around for familiar faces.

“Louis!”  Mark grabbed him into a hug which was. Well, that was a bit new. Mark was a more recent addition to Louis’s management team, and they’d not known each other all that long. Louis looked a little closer, and his polite smile moved into a full-on grin. Mark was clearly tipsy  already.  “C’mon! Have a drink. We’re having drinks!”  Mark tugged Louis by the arm over to a bar that had been set up near the sliders out to the back patio and pool area. “What’ll you have?”

Louis paused. Contrary to some of the press about him, he wasn’t really much of a partier, but a bit of the classic social lubricant might not be a bad idea. “I’ll have a martini, up, with a twist,” he said to the bartender with a smile, adding “whatever gin you have is fine, I’m not picky.” As he waited for his drink, Louis scanned the room. It wasn’t a big group, fairly evenly divided between men and women, and there were some familiar faces.

“C’mon,” Mark said, “Come and meet Harry, he’s excited to meet you.”

Louis took a deep breath, picked up his drink, and followed Mark to a group sitting in the conversation pit in front of the fire place. “Everyone,” called Mark as they approached, “Louis’s here!”

Louis turned toward the movement as a man stood up, and smiled at him. Louis stopped, and stared. This was Harry, he recognized him from pictures, but the picture clearly didn’t do him justice. As their eyes met, _wow he really does have green eyes he has_ ** _actual_** _green eyes_ , Louis felt his heart literally skip a beat. _Wait, what the hell was this?_ Realizing that he was staring, and ignoring Harry’s outstretched hand, Louis gave himself a mental shake and reached out. As Harry smiled and introduced himself, Louis’s smaller hand engulfed in his larger one, Louis began to wonder what exactly he’d gotten himself into, and if he might not just be completely fucked.

….

By the end of the evening, Louis was sure. This was going to be a problem. A big, huge, adorable problem.  As he and Harry had started talking, it became very clear that Harry Styles was not at all how the media portrayed him (what, so Louis’d been googling him, he had to get to know his first real boyfriend somehow), as an adorably slow child, who just happened to fuck every single woman he came within 10 feet of. Sure, Harry had a way of rambling as he spoke, sometimes talking in circles until everyone, including him, sat baffled for a moment, but he also had a sharp sense of humor, and clearly understood exactly what had been said about him, and played off of it. When he’d made some comment about girlfriend #346, Louis had actually honest-to-god snorted, and thought to himself “I do not want to underestimate this guy.”

There was something about him, though that had Louis mesmerized. When Harry talked, Louis found himself drawn in. When Harry smiled, Louis was helpless but to smile back.  When Harry laughed, especially at something Louis had said, he felt a burst of pride, and each time, his own laughter was drawn from him. Louis was vaguely aware that there were other people at the table, but he couldn’t quite find it in himself to break away from Harry to talk to anyone, even Zayn Malik who was seated across from him, next to another exceedingly attractive, muscular man with golden brown eyes, whose name Louis had missed, but reminded Louis a bit of a puppy. After laughing himself into a stomach ache over one of Harry’s terrible, rambling stories, Louis caught his breath. His gaze caught Harry’s, and the sound of the party dropped away, leaving Louis suspended for a moment, lost in Harry’s green eyes.

….

At one point during the evening, Louis stepped outside to “get some fresh air” (meaning, have one of the 3 cigarettes he allowed himself a day). He was just turning to go back inside when the slider open, and Harry stepped out, pulling it closed behind him. Louis smiled, and Harry grinned back, and wandered over to where Louis was perched on the side of the (sadly covered and not on) hot tub.

“Hey” he said, and then quirked an eyebrow at Harry, who was looking quite determined about something. “Err, all right there?”

Harry nodded, and then took a deep breath.“I wanted to get a chance to talk to you without…you know, everyone.” As far as Louis could tell, everyone in the room seemed to be aware of the nature of their arrangement, and their interactions had all been highly scrutinized with more than a little amusement.

Harry shrugged awkwardly and Louis noted to himself that his posture really was shockingly bad. “I just…I’m trying to figure out why you’re doing this? It just doesn’t seem like something *you* would need.”

Louis thought for a moment. “Well, basically, it’s promo, right?” He shrugged, suddenly feeling awkward as well. “Alex, my manager, and Mark think that having a high profile, loved-up gay romance will help me get noticed by some different directors.” Not wanting to jinx the Michael Gideon thing, he decided not to mention it. 

“No,” Harry stopped him, “I get the whole promo thing, I just don’t get…I mean, how on earth could someone like you have trouble getting, you know, a real boyfriend?” His eyes shone in the soft lights around the pool and Louis felt his heart stutter again, at this beautiful, endearing boy. 

“I could ask you the same thing , Styles.” Louis gave him an exaggerated once-over and a wink, trying to ease the moment.

Harry snorted, and then laughed at himself. “I was closeted for years, Louis. The opportunities for…romance while touring non-stop for 5 years were slim. Let’s just say that I had to be very, very careful, and there usually just weren’t options.”

Louis felt his eyes widen. “Wait, are you saying you’ve never…”

Harry shrugged, and managed not to look to abashed. “I’ve…um, you know, experimented enough to know what I like, which is definitely not girls. But I’ve never had a real relationship.” He looked sad for a moment. “Between touring, appearances and recording, they worked us pretty hard. Now that we’ve switched management…” his voice trailed off, and Louis nodded, indicating he was aware of the rupture with their former management. “And anyway, I’ve been so busy with the band, and the new album, and we’re going on a tour again soon. I’m sure it seems a bit pathetic, but I guess I just haven’t had the time, or energy, or, you know, options.”

Louis shook his head, anxious to reassure Harry. “Jesus, no, H.” _H? Huh._ He hurried forward, “Harry, I was closeted too. I’m guessing there were a lot more opportunities for…uh…casual encounters in Hollywood but…” He thought he heard Harry mutter something about “goddamn Brazliian underwear models” but continued over him. “I’ve never had a real relationship either, not with someone that I actually wanted to be with. So if you’re pathetic, so am I.”

“So, then…how come you haven’t had an actual relationship since you came out?” Harry wondered.

“Um…” Louis tried to gather his scattered thoughts. “I…I don’t know, I guess I just wasn’t looking. I had some health stuff, though I’m fine now, and it just wasn’t a high priority.”

“So, you’re not looking for the real thing, then?”Louis wondered if that was…disappointment underlying Harry’s carefully neutral tone.

“I…wasn’t.” _Until now._ “What about you?”

Harry shook his head and smiled easily, “Nah, it’s not high on my priority list right now. I want to be out, and I guess the powers that be think that’ll go over better if I’m all loved up with someone, but, like I said, we’re off on tour soon. I don’t think I’d make anyone a good real boyfriend right now.”

Louis was going to have to keep this…attraction under control, as Harry seemed pretty clear that he was not looking for the real thing right now, just the needed promo to get him safely out. Unfortunately, Louis’s heart, and libido, seemed like they just might have a difference of opinion with his head over this.

_Oh, yes. Completely and utterly fucked._


	3. The Dairy Products Level

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super-short chapter.

“Louis.”

“Harry.”

“LOUIS.”

“HARRY”

“LEWIS”

“HAROLD”

“C’mon,Louis, you’ve been staring at the flavor list for 10 minutes, it’s not that hard! Make a choice!” Out of the corner of his eye, Louis say Harry roll his eyes fondly.

“It’s not been 10 minutes!” he protested, with a grin, “Okay, okay, I’m gonna have…I guess a mint chocolate chip dish, please.”

Harry’s jaw dropped. _His perfect, beautiful, covered-in-a smattering-of-stubble jaw_ …”All that staring, sighing, and pouting…for mint chocolate chip? IN A DISH?” Something about the delivery method seemed to have particularly offended him.

This was the first of their planned “dates,” or as they’d been referring to it in texts, it was the Dairy Level of the stunt. After the dinner party the previous week, Harry had been busy in the studio with the rest of his band,so there’d been no opportunity to hang out in person, but he and Louis had been texting nonstop. Niall had taken to confiscating Louis’s phone whenever they were together, and Louis had a nagging suspicion that Niall may have texted some…inappropriate things, and then deleted them, given some of the shocked and horrified  emojis Louis had received. Louis made a mental note to address that with both Harry and Niall later. 

“Wait,” he said belatedly, “what’s wrong with a dish? I don’t like cones. They get all…messy. Sticky hands.” He saw Harry gulp and felt himself flush a bit at the unintended innuendo… _I’d love to get sticky and messy with you, darling. Whoa, DOWN BOY._

“Well,” Harry started, “First of all, aren’t we meant to be walking around?” They were in West Hollywood, at perhaps the most pretentious ice cream place Louis had ever been in. Who even knew that there were artisan ice cream shops. _People who needed to be seen out and about._ “What if there isn’t a trash can? You’ll be stuck holding that bowl because I *know* you wouldn’t litter! And second, I dunno, I kind of had you pegged as a more…” Harry’s grin widened, “…adventurous sort.” He winked. He actually goddamn *winked* at Louis. “You don’t want the Pumpkin Spice Cranberry? Or the Carob Clove?”

Louis gave an exaggerated shudder. “No, NO. My mum once went on a health kick and made us carob chip cookies, and I’ve never recovered from that betrayal. It was horrible, Harold, just horrible. Carob has scarred me for life!”

Harry gave a bark of laughter and clapped a hand over his mouth. “Oh Lou…” he crooned and, yes. They’d reached the nickname stage of their “relationship” about 10 minutes after meeting, if Louis recalled correctly, and if anyone asked, Louis would deny the thrill that seeing “Hey Lou!” on his phone screen gave him. He’d be lying. In fact, he’d lied about it just yesterday to Niall. But he would deny it. “I had no idea you’d been through so much.” He moved closer to Louis, draped an arm around him in a half-hug that did funny things to Louis’s stomach area, and asked with mock concern, “Are you going to be okay?”

Louis sent out a brief plea to the universe that his voice not do that scratchy cracky thing that it did when he was…activated, and said “Needs must, young Harold. I will attempt to soldier on, but since you brought us to this terrible place, you’re buying.”

Harry grinned, moved away from Louis to the counter, and pulled out his wallet.As they exited the building, Harry with his Rosemary Butterscotch cone, and Louis with his plebeian dish of mint chocolate chip, Louis heard the distinctive sound of the camera, and came back to himself with a jolt.

_Not a real date,_ he reminded himself, _this is work._


	4. It's not real!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (I probably should have just posted this as all one thing, huh? Still learning the ropes!)

It was now two weeks to the day that Louis had met Harry, and already he was having a hard time picturing his life without Harry in it. It was perhaps…alarming, how quickly Harry had slotted himself into Louis’s consciousness, but Louis kept reminding himself, _it’s work_ , and _looks like maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get a friend out of this_.The frenzy and speculation that came about when the pap photos and fan candids hit the internet after their ice cream date the previous weekend had far surpassed Mark and Alex’s expectations. Then on Tuesday, they had been papped getting coffee together. The Wednesday after the Dairy Level date, Alex had called Louis, screaming so loudly that Louis had become genuinely concerned about his stress levels. “LOUIS! Holy shit! Those pictures are every where! And wow, man, you both sure sold the ‘new love’ thing!”

Louis swallowed. “Well, I *am* an actor.” He had, of course, a Google alert for himself set up, so he’d seen the 100s of pictures posted. He’d seen the enormous crinkly-eyed grin he’d worn in approximately 98% of them, heart eyes glowing through the computer screen. The thing is, he hadn’t been acting. He hadn’t even been paying attention to the camera and phones pointed at them. He hadn’t noticed a goddamn thing.

Mark seemed to calm down a bit and dropped to an indoor voice volume level. “Seriously, Lou, this is awesome. Google searches for your names, both you and Harry, are up 172% from last week, which is amazing! Your website has gotten another 100,000 new hits, and you’ve gained 10,000 Twitter followers since YESTERDAY!” 

After the conversation at the part, and then Harry’s referring to “aren’t we meant to be walking” i.e., seen and photographed on their ice cream date, neither he nor Louis had referenced the fact that this whole thing was a PR stunt. Louis supposed that he was going to have to bring it up again at some point, just to set some parameters. He and El had talked candidly about the stunt, planning out romantic gestures, and on one awkward occasion, a kiss. In hindsight, Louis realized that the kissing thing was a mistake when he saw the photos of the moment. He’d loved El, but there was not the slightest hint of attraction. It had been, ew, like kissing his sister or something. No wonder he was always cast as the sassy friend.

“Lou. LOUIS! Are you there?” he heard Mark saying and snapped back to the conversation. “What? Yes. Well. Yeah, that all sounds great, Mark!” he said with a hearty tone that seemed to satisfy Mark, not having the faintest idea of what he was agreeing to. 

After they got off the phone, Louis collapsed onto his couch with a frown, dropping his head into his hands. Niall looked up from where he was sprawled on the other couch, beer in one hand and hotdog in the other. Louis blinked. “Where’d you get the hotdog, Niall?”

“Brought it with me. What’s up, buttercup, you seem stressed. You’re in luuuuuuurve, no stress allowed, darlin’!” 

Louis sighed. Niall had been teasing him hard about the stunt, the texting, and the photos. “I dunno. I guess Mark’s happy, the stunt’s doing what it’s supposed to.”

Niall sat up, hearing the tone in Louis’s voice. “Seriously, man, what’s wrong?” He leaned forward in concern as he asked, “I thought you were having fun? Harry’s hilarious, he seems great?”

Louis flopped backwards onto the couch, and half-heartedly starfished for a moment. “He is! That’s the problem! He’s just so….URGH” A strangled sound heretofore never made by man erupted from him. Niall jumped and took a nervous bite of the hotdog. 

“He’s…uh, what was that noise, mate?”

Louis sat up again and turned to Niall. “He’s amazing, all right? He’s funny, and sweet, and thoughtful, and loves his granny, and he drives a PRIUS and he’s fit as FUCK, and I don’t get to HAVE HIM.” His voice rose almost to a shout on the last words, and he took a deep breath. “Seriously, Niall, this is a gig, that’s all. It’s a PR stunt for him. He's not looking for an actual relationship. Yeah, he seems to like me fine, and we’re having a lot of laughs…but that is all it is.”

Niall nodded and murmured, “And you want it to be more?”

Louis looked away and swallowed past the lump in his throat. “I want it to be real.”


	5. The Romantic Dinner Level

It was the Sunday before Christmas, and Louis was on his way to some fancy French restaurant on Wilshire for the Romantic Date event of the relationship. Louis continued to be amused at the press coverage. Even though he and Harry had really barely spent time together, they’d been in constant contact, and Harry had taken to sending Louis links to particularly silly speculations about them. 

Mark had given Louis specific instructions. “Park and wait for him. He’ll park too, and text you to let you know he’s there. Walk into the restaurant together, paps will be there, so just act natural. Do that thing you did at the coffee shop, where you opened the door for him and put your hand on his back to guide him, that photographed SO WELL.” Louis had been surprised when he’d seen those pictures, he had no real memory of doing that.

When Harry got out of his car, Louis could tell that he was not okay. “What’s wrong, love?” _Oops._ “I mean, are you okay, H? You look…”

Harry just nodded, and gave a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Not out here, Lou. Can we just go in?”

Without even thinking about it, Louis pulled Harry in for a quick hug, “Of course,” he murmured, and they went in. Louis could hear the sound of the camera across the parking lot.

After they’d gotten settled, ordered the ridiculously expensive chef’s menu and an absurd wine that Louis couldn’t even pronounce to go with it, Louis carefully put his napkin on his lap, and shot another look at Harry.

Harry ran his hand through his hair, and gave it a shake. “Would you believe me if I told you it was nothing?”

“Nope.” 

Harry sighed. “Didn’t think so.It’s just…you know…” his voice trailed off, and he looked uncertain, and Louis was suddenly reminded that this man was just 21 years old, no matter how confident or world-weary he might appear.

“Okay, now you’re making me nervous, H.”

“Well, Jamie, he’s my PR guy at the firm with Mark, you know, he’s been telling me to stay off social media, and I have been…but then, today, I just thought I’d hop on Twitter, see how the fans are doing, you know.”

With a sinking feeling in his gut, Louis did know. He knew exactly where this was going.

Harry continued. “Like, all of sudden it’s hitting me. This is me *coming out*, Lou. I’ve been so caught…” He suddenly stopped himself, and coughed, “I mean, I’ve been super busy in the studio, and talking to you and…stuff, and I just kind of put it out of my mind, but today it was just, like, oh my god.”

Louis said cautiously, “I thought Mark said they’d been seeding you for a while?”

“They have. I have. But there was a big portion of our fanbase that…didn’t want to believe it. For the first few years, we were sold as a commodity for girls, you know? That’s not what we wanted to be, and it’s not their fault that they bought it. We’re changing it, with the last album, the rebrand, the new team…” his voice trailed off.

Louis paused “You didn’t want to lose fans, but you also need to be true to who you are, Harry. So Jamie put you on Twitter lock down?”

Harry grinned, though the sadness was clear in his eyes. “Yeah, and like I said, I’ve just been…thinking about other things. Like, I’m so excited not to have to hide who I am. That stupid image in the media,” he said fiercely, “That’s not me! I would never treat anyone that way. It felt so…ugly to know there are people who actually believed that stuff!”

“Yeah.” Harry ran his hand through his hair again, and Louis recognized the move now for what it was, not a shallow man making sure he looked perfect for the cameras, but an anxious boy, calming himself down. “So, I got on Twitter…and, *god* Louis, it was just horrible! Have you been on?”

Louis shook his head. “No. Mark did the same thing for me after I was, um, you know,”  
  
“Outed?” supplied Harry with a small smirk as they both imagined the pictures.

“Well, I kind of outed myself, but yeah. The next day, Mark came over, deleted Twitter from my phone, and put parental controls on it so I couldn’t download any social media apps without his permission.” It suddenly occurred to Louis that 1) that must sound sort of weird and 2) it’s probably time for Mark to change that. He clarified, “I know he was worried about what I’d read, and be upset by it, but I think he was even more worried about what I’d say. I don’t always bite me tongue.”

Harry laughed, “I remember that Twitter spat with, who was it?”

Louis snickered, “That kid from The Wanted, what an asshole!” They both laughed, and Louis continued, “it’s hard to read those things Harry, but remember, they’re *not true.” And anyway, if you’re getting shit,” he laughed, “I can’t imagine what they’re saying about me, probably that I turned you gay or something!”

Harry glanced away suddenly and Louis’s stomach dropped. “NO, really??”

Harry looked down at the table as their appetizers were delivered, and nodded. “I’m so, so sorry, Louis. I never imagined any of this would hurt you.” Louis could see the distress in his eyes, and immediately dropped his hand over Harry’s and squeezed gently.

“You know, we haven’t really…talked about all this. It’s a big deal, huge, to come out.”

Harry nodded. “I am ready, I really am. I’m so tired of the hiding, the lying. I’d barely even figured it out myself when we did X Factor, and they immediately told me I had to hide it. You know, the, ‘there’s nothing WRONG with it but it won’t sell records’ speech.” He rolled his eyes. “And I was 16, what the hell did I know? When Jamie suggested the stunt, I don’t know, I didn’t think it would be such a big deal. Like, I thought everyone already *knew*! I mean, how can anyone think I,” He gestured to himself, and noting the sheer floral shirt and sparkly gold boots, Louis quirked an eyebrow and nodded in agreement, “am straight! But, god, Lou, the things some people are saying about me, and you, it’s awful.”

Louis had a suspicion, “Harry, did you do a general google or did you go looking for the negative stuff?” Harry blinked sheepishly, and Louis snorted. “HAROLD. STAY OFF THE GOOGLE.” Harry burst out laughing, and Louis grinned.

“But seriously, Louis,” as Louis realized that his hand was still covering Harry’s, Harry turned his own hand over, and threaded his fingers through Louis’s, squeezing gently. “Thank you. I know we’ve just met, and barely even hung out but…I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else but you.”Their eyes met and the moment froze. Louis couldn’t breath, couldn’t look away, couldn’t do anything but gaze at Harry. He was pretty sure his heart was in his eyes, and it was too much, too soon, too intense. Then Harry let go of his hand, picked up his fork to eat, and the moment was gone.


	6. The Romantic Trip Level

The rest of the date had been much lighter, with Louis and Harry falling into their natural pattern of making each other laugh, of sharing silly stories about their friends.It turned out that Harry was actually good friends with Zayn, and filled Louis in on the gossip about Zayn’s PR relationship.“Oh god, at first it was a disaster! Zayn comes off as a bad boy but really he’s a goof ball, and he’s super shy. I guess Liam thought he was just a dick, but they’d signed the contract, so he was obligated to keep going out on dates. They were on the Sporting Event level,” Louis snorted at that, imagining the different components of the PR relationship, “and I guess Liam threw a righteous fit, COURTSIDE! Can you even believe it?! I guess he yelled something like ‘why are you even HERE WITH ME IF YOU’RE NOT EVEN GOING TO TALK AT ALL!!’”

Laughing so hard he could barely speak, Louis shook his head. He’d been sort of too infatuated with Harry at Mark’s dinner to focus much on Liam, the attractive man who had been sitting next to Zayn, but he had a hard time picturing that gentle guy who, as far as Louis could remember, seemed about as threatening as a golden retriever puppy, throwing a strop, but hey. _I guess every one has a breaking point._

Harry continued, “So Zayn stood up and dumped his nachos on Liam’s head!” He was laughing so hard he could barely continue, “And then I guess Zayn said, ‘I totally want to be here with you!” And then…and then! They came up on the KISS CAM!!”

“NO!!”

“Yeah, and everyone around them starting chanting KISS KISS, so Zayn grabbed Liam and just *laid one on him*, tongue and everything!”

Louis leaned back in his chair as the waiter set the bill down discreetly. “Oh my god, I can’t even imagine! I can’t believed I missed that!”

Harry took a shuddering breath and pressed a hand to his abs that were aching from laughing so hard, _his firm abs that Louis could see just through the sheer fabric of his shirt, the abs that Louis would very much like to see more of, to run his…DOWN BOY_ “Apparently they just kept kissing until the ref had to tell them to either sit down or go get a room.”

Louis was pretty sure he could justify skipping his own ab workout tomorrow after this dinner, given the way his own core muscles were aching from laughter, “What happened?”

Harry’s eyes met his, and all of a sudden he gave what was, quite frankly, the most filthy smirk Louis had ever seen, and all of a sudden Louis was half-hard in his dress pants, and it wasn’t his abs that were aching any more.Harry said, “They got a room.”

……

Louis flew home to the UK for his birthday and Christmas, and spent the next few days moping about, missing Harry more than seemed prudent, really. The furor over his and Harry’s supposed relationship, which had eased off a bit after the Dairy Level, kicked back into top gear when the photos from the Romantic Dinner Level were “leaked.” Many “inside sources” claimed that they had shared an “intimate dinner for two” where they had “insisted on sitting side-by-side” and shared several “gentle kisses” during the meal. Louis appreciated the visual, lying in his childhood bed, aching with longing, wishing it weren’t fiction.

….

But now. This was it. The main event. The boss level. It’s Romantic Getaway time. They were, in fact, getting the bonus level of New Year’s Eve Together (and if Louis prayed that Mark insisted on pap shots of a kiss, well, he wouldn’t mention that to anyone). Since Louis was already in the UK, they’d opted for a ski trip.

Having seen Harry manage to trip over thin air, Louis had some concerns about the wisdom of strapping boards onto his feet and sending him down a mountain, but Harry assured him he’d had some lessons and could actually ski a bit. So, skiing it was.To be honest, Louis’d hoped for the Yacht in St. Bart’s level, but apparently neither of them had commanded enough star power to get that achievement. “Next year, maybe.” Mark had suggested, “If you get cast in Gideon’s film.” 

So, here Louis was, at some swanky resort in France. He’d checked in, and as the front desk clerk did a bit of double take, she then smiled, and handed him two room keys. “Err, what’s the second one for? Do I look like I’m liable to lose my key?” 

“Oh, no sir,” came the reply, “The other one is for your….travel companion?” Louis stared blankly for a moment,and then said “Who?”

The clerk looked horrified, as if she’d just committed a fireable offense, and said frantically, “It says in the booking notes that Mr. Styles will be joining you tonight, and that you specifically wanted both keys at your check in, so he could go straight to the room when he arrives??”

Louis closed his eyes for a moment, and cursed Mark silently. “Ahh, yes, of course, I’d forgotten that we requested that” he said gently, because the clerk really did look like she was about to burst into tears. “No worries, love!”She breathed more easily, and directed him to the elevators. As he headed up to the room, he texted Mark, “Thanks for telling me we’re sharing a room, dick, maybe that’s info I would have liked to have!”He added a couple of surly emojis just to make his point, then shoved the phone in his pocket when he got to the room.

He dropped his bags by the door, all three of them. They’ll were staying until January 2nd, and there were apparently all kinds of festivities going on for the New Year’s celebration, so many outfits were required. Thank god for Caroline, his stylist. She basically showed up one day, went through his closet, marched away muttering angrily, and showed up again 3 days later with three suitcases packed to the gills, and strict orders not to touch ANYTHING in them until he got to France, not even on UK soil DO YOU HEAR ME LOUIS SO HELP ME GOD, and he should pack his own toiletries. Apparently there was even A List of the outfits and when he should be wearing them. In a fit of optimism, Louis had packed lube and condoms. In retrospect, he thought, that was probably an error as it would only serve to remind him of his longing for the man in the next bed over.

Louis dragged his bags into the room, flipped on the light, and stopped dead. He was expecting a room with two doubles. There was only one bed. _THERE’S ONLY ONE BED_ his mind shouted. It didn’t even appear to be the hotel bog standard king bed. Louis stared at it in confusion, and pulled out his phone to text Mark. There were a series of texts from him already that seemed to indicate that over Christmas he had had the BRILLIANT STROKE OF GENIUS to have them not only share a room, but to book the romantic honeymooners’ room, which someone (i.e., him) would conveniently leak to the press. Louis pressed one hand to his eyes and muttered, “Jesus. Okay, I can do this.”

Other than that electric moment at restaurant, things between Louis and Harry had continued to be, well, easy and light. Harry agreed to get off the Google, and instead they tried to outpun each other via text. There’d been less texting in generalin the last few days, as both were occupied with their families for the Christmas holiday although had Harry texted Louis Happy Birthday at midnight, UK time, saying “I’ll give you your gift in France” with the happiest emoji face.  Louis carefully didn’t allow himself to read anything into that, and if he rolled around on his bed in a small fit of ecstatic hope, well, no one needed to know that but him. He really couldn’t read Harry at all, and could not tell if there might be any chance for them to turn this from a stunt to reality.

Louis moved through the room, opening the shades. The room looked out onto the back patio, across from the restaurant. There was a ski lift not far from the back entrance of the hotel, and Louis marveled again at the luxury in which he found himself. Harry was not expected until much later that night, so Louis decided to head out for a few runs on the slopes before ordering some room service for dinner.

Later that evening, after a satisfying afternoon on the slopes, a surprisingly good room service dinner, and a shower (and quick wank to take the edge off), Louis was sitting in bed, reading the latest in a series of paranormal mysteries that he shamelessly adored. He was so caught up in the story that he was caught off-guard when a brisk knock sounded at the door. He jumped violently, giving a manly shriek, which in turn apparently startled Harry out in the hall, who gave an answering shriek, along with a somewhat concerning crash, and then silence. 

Louis leapt out of bed, and ran to the door. Being a hotel door, he couldn’t exactly fling it open, but he gave it his best, saying “Harry? Are you okay?”

The crash was apparently Harry dropping his carryall onto his foot, and falling over, as he was looking a bit sheepish as he picked himself up off the floor. Together they dragged his various suitcases and gear into the room, both talking at the same time, until they each paused. Without thinking, Louis stepped in and gave Harry a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here! I missed you!” Harry froze for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around Louis, and pulled him as close as he could, and just *held on.* Louis realized that Harry was shaking a bit, and pulled back, concerned. “H? Are you okay?”

Harry gave him one more squeeze and then disentangled himself, picking up his carryall and not quite meeting Louis’s eyes. “Yeah, I just. It just hit me, this is IT, you know? Once this is out, there’s no going back, I’m OUT.”

Louis backed away, and sat down on the bed. He couldn’t lie, his heart dropped a bit. “Are you..are you second guessing yourself, Harry? Have you changed your mind about this? Have you changed your mind about doing this with…us?”

Harry dropped the bag he was fiddling with, and rushed over to fling himself down next to Louis. He wrapped his arms around Louis again, pulling him down for a cuddle which is. Well, not that it wasn't amazing, because it was, although if this kept up much longer, Louis was going to have an unmistakeable…situation in his loose pajama pants. He realized Harry was saying urgently, “No, no! Nothing like that! Just, you know, I got a little overwhelmed! I told you, Lou, I *told* you, I only want to do this with you! I know you’re already out, so it’s not that big a deal for you…”

“HEY now,” Louis interrupted him, “Harry, wait. I don’t know where you got the idea that I’m some noble gay warrior who never gets scared or hurt or anything! Yeah, I’m out, but I wasn’t planning on coming out for a while, and then I got drunk and did something dumb. I’ve been pretty low on the media’s radar, so no one’s been paying attention to who I’m dating. But this, this *is* a big deal to me!” For a moment he had almost forgotten that it’s a gig, that it’s not real, in his haste to make Harry understand how important he is, how much Louis wanted to stand by him, “Harry, I’m so happy it’s you, because even though people knew, this is different, it’s a real relationship, and I’m so proud to do this with you!” There was silence, and Louis wondered if he’d gone too far, shown too much of his vulnerable heart, so he hastily added, “I wasn’t expecting to get a mate out of this stunt!”

Harry went absolutely still and silent for a moment, and then moved closer to him. Louis stopped breathing for a moment as Harry pressed their foreheads together, his own eyes closed. He said quietly, “Yeah, Lou, uh, me too. Mates.” He rolled away and said, “I’m going to take a quick shower, wash the plane off of me,” and moved into the bathroom, with Louis left shivering on the bed in his absence.


	7. Bonus Level: New Year’s Eve

After a couple of great days spent skiing and eating steak in the hotel restaurant, along with early bedtimes due to being SO DAMN TIRED FROM ALL THE SKIING, Louis was ready for some fun. He knew what New Year’s Eve meant to the general public, and he couldn’t deny that he was looking forward to it. _Bring it on._

Again, Louis marveled at his actual life. The morning was spent skiing, and the afternoon spent in the spa, having massages and other treatments, and generally lounging about being self-indulgent and drinking high-priced spa water that Louis suspected was run out of the tap in the back room, not to mention the occasional mimosa. Ah well, after Sven pummeled Louis into total submission (and slipped his number into the pocket of Louis’s robe), Louis was feeling loose and ready, for well, anything.

Anything, that is, but the sight of one Harry Styles, clad only in a neon yellow speedo, emerging from the Sauna.

“Harry” squeaked Louis.

Harry raised one eyebrow, and looked back at Louis. “All right, Lou?”

“Um…yes. YES. Very…yeah, very all right,” Louis babbled, feeling marginally incoherent. “Hey. Um. Do you want…” he glance at the drink he was brandishing enthusiastically, “a mimosa? Hey. They’re good.”

Harry continued to gaze at Louis in his baggy swim shorts, with one eyebrow raised, flushed from the hot tub, and said, “sounds great, Lou.”

By the time the two of them, swathed in spa towels and bathrobes, and more than tipsy from the mimosas, stumbled back to their room, Louis was having a hard time reminding himself to _keep it professional_ and _he’s your fucking friend but NO NOT YOUR FRIEND FOR FUCKING JUST A GOOD FRIEND DOWN BOY_ and found himself pressed up against Harry’s _oh god broad back jesus how many muscles does the human back have_ as Harry attempted to run their key card in the lock. 

Louis laid his head between Harry’s shoulder blades, and did not miss the hitch of Harry’s breath as he opened the door and stepped them both into the room.

“Harry. HAZZA. H.”

Harry snickered, “I think you’re drunk, Lou. One too many mimosas?”

Louis laid on his best Hollywood sneer and stated “There is no such fucking thing as too many mimosas, Harry. That is a lie. A damned lie and I could….” his voice trailed off as he pondered “I could SPANK you for lying!”

Louis knew he was a bit intoxicated, but you would have to have been far more drunk than he currently was to miss the way Harry stumbled, paled, and stuttered for a moment. _Hmmm. Interesting._

“Jesus, Lou.”

Louis pulled back from Harry, and the very air between them seemed to thicken. Harry’s eyes darkened, and he licked his lips, stepping forward slightly, reaching for Louis. Louis panicked, the voice in his head chanting, _GIG GIG GIG THIS IS JUST WORK JUST FRIENDS JUST DRUNK_. He slipped past Harry into the room, calling over his shoulder, “Err, I’m just going to shower before we go down to the party, okay?” knowing he was running, wishing he had the courage to stay.

….

When Louis got out of the shower, and came back into the room, Harry was sitting on the bed with his head in hands. As soon as he heard the door to the bathroom open, his head snapped up, and he turned and looked at Louis. Louis sidled awkwardly into the room towards his suitcase, and reached for Caroline’s list. Harry muttered, “I’m going to shower,” and when Louis murmured, “Shall I just meet you down at the bar?” Harry nodded once and exhaled, “Yeah. Okay.”

…..

The bar was packed. Louis felt confident in his black skinny jeans, classic chelsea boots, and fitted white t-shirt, that had both a swooping neckline to highlight his collar bones, and was tight enough to emphasize his pecs (and nipples, shh). Louis made his way through the crowd, and signaled the bartender, who, any living and breathing person had to admit, Louis acknowledged, was pretty fucking hot.

By the time Harry made it down from their room _THEIR ROOM, don’t get used to that, Tomlinson_ , Louis had finished his first Cosmo and was well into his second. He and the _extremely fit_ bartender had exchanged names _Bobby,_ Louis reminded himself, _his name is Bobby_ , and Louis was feeling absolutely fine, thank you VERY much. When he saw Harry step out of the elevator, he gave a small crow of satisfaction and waved enthusiastically, calling “Harry! HEY HARRY!!”. Bobby, behind the bar, came up behind him. “Who’s that, then?”

Louis paused. Although to the outside world, he and Harry were together, all of a sudden, it felt dishonest to lie. “That’s, um…that’s my Harry!” He stumbled over the words, and took a healthy sip of the Cosmo to cover his sudden embarrassment. “But, he’s not,you know, MY Harry. Oh god!” Bobby watched Harry, who had locked on to Louis and was moving quickly through the crowd towards them, then glanced at Louis who couldn’t spare him a look, as his eyes were fixed on Harry, and gave a small, knowing hum of satisfaction. With a grin, he let his hand drift over the bar to rest on Louis’s shoulder as Harry approached.

Bobby could tell the moment Harry noticed his hand on Louis, though Louis himself seemed oblivious to the gentle touch as his eyes lit up and he gave Harry another enthusiastic wave. Harry’s eyes narrowed, and Bobby almost stepped back, but then held his ground. “Hey man, can I get you a drink?”

Harry held his gaze for a moment, but when Bobby winked at him, his gazed cleared. He looked at Louis, looked at Bobby, and gave him a knowing nod. “Yeah, sure…I’ll have whatever he’s having.”

Louis decided it would be prudent to switch to water after his 3rd cosmo, and by the time midnight rolled around, he was somewhat sober. The same, however, could not be said for Harry, who was, to put it delicately, a complete fucking disaster.

Louis snickered to himself as Harry stumbled towards where he was sitting on a bar stool, back to the bar.Harry’s cheeks were flushed, his curls in complete disarray, and there was an interesting red stain down his right pants leg.

  
“LOOOOOOOOOUIS” Harry crowed, as if he’d just been awarded the Nobel prize in physiology for running his hand up Louis’s thigh. 

“HAROLD” Louis called back, halting Harry’s hand before it could get too far, laughing somewhat to himself. “You, my darling, are a WRECK!” 

“NOOOOO!” Harry whined over the music. He moved closer to Louis, and Louis could feel the heat radiating off him in waves. Harry tucked himself into Louis’s side, and Louis automatically draped his arm around Harry, pulling him in closer. He glanced over to ask Bobby for some water for Harry, and met his knowing glance with a grimace. 

All of a sudden, the crowd got louder, and started chanting. **10…9…8…**

Harry’s gaze locked on to Louis’s, and his hand reached up to skim over Louis’s cheek. **7…6…5…**

“Jesus, Lou” Louis could barely hear Harry’s exhaled plea over the music, the cheering, and sounds of the crowd. Louis couldn't see any cameras, but if he knew Mark, and he did, there had to be more than one long-range lens pointing their way even as Harry swayed closer, glassy-eyed and so, so beautiful.

**4…3…2…** Harry stopped, inches from Louis’s face, and his hand tightened to cup Louis’s cheek. “Please, Lou…can I?” he faltered, as the cheers around them grew louder, and closed the distance between them. “Can I just…??”

As the crowd erupted into cheers of the call of ONE, Harry closed the distance between them, pressing his mouth to Louis’s, capturing Louis’s surprised gasp as the kiss rapidly shifted from gentle to something deeper. Hotter. Harry’s hand closed over Louis’ thigh, as he pulled Louis to the edge of the bar stool, slotting himself between Louis’s thighs as if he’d been born to stand there. Helpless, Louis’s head tilted back, and he felt his mouth open as Harry licked between his lips, and kissed him as thoroughly as he had ever been kissed. Harry pulled him closer, and the feel of the hot, hard length him through his dress slacks, pressed up against Louis, shocked him back into awareness, had him pulling back as all around him the revelers erupted into cheers as the old year made way for the new.

For a moment, the noise and hubbub all retreated, as Harry leaned his head into Louis, both of them panting. Then Louis shook himself gently, and reached up to trace a line down Harry’s cheek. His thumb ghosted over Harry’s lips, and then he let his hand drop down, even as he patted Harry’s back with his other hand. “Harry…you’re drunk, love.”

“No!” Harry insisted, even as his eyes started to cross. “Louis!” His tone was urgent, “I’m not…I know what I’m doing.”

“Harry. How many drinks did you have?” Louis asked regretfully. He could feel it, he wasn’t an idiot. In this moment, he knew, he could lick his lips, lower his lashes so that they brushed his cheeks as he looked up at Harry, and he could have him. _He could have Harry._ But…it would be wrong. Louis knew the sober to horny spectrum that alcohol could create. Harry had never made a move on him sober in all the times they’d hung out together, and Louis, achingly, had had to conclude that Harry just wasn’t attracted to him in that way.

Harry looked baffled for a moment. “Um…how many?”

Louis shook his head. “If you can’t answer love, it’s too many. C’mon, the year has turned, let’s get you to bed.” He tossed Bobby a smile and a ghost of a wink, and Bobby returned it with a small salute and a mouthed “Good luck with that” as Louis stood up and bundled Harry towards the elevators, thanking his lucky stars that he’d, for once in his sorry life, quit drinking early enough to be sober as they headed towards their room.

Their positions were reversed this time as Harry draped himself around Louis as he fumbled in his pockets for the room key. “Louis!!” he kept chanting in a sing-song voice, as he pressed kisses to the nape of Louis’s neck.

“Jesus, Harry! You gotta stop that!” Louis hissed as he finally wrangled the key from his pocket and inserted it into the lock.

“WHY?” Harry whined as he stumbled towards the bed, collapsing in a heap of limbs and clunky shoes.

“Oi, Styles, shoes off the bed spread! Were you raised in a barn?!” Louis chided laughingly as he went to help Harry remove his shoes.

Harry’s brow furrowed. “Barn? What? Why do we have to stop? I want you, I know you want me, don’t bother saying you don’t. I wasn't sure until the mimosa, but...”

Louis stilled from where he was working to get Harry’s second shoe off. “What?”

Harry kicked off the offending shoe, and crawled down the bed towards Louis, eyes dark and glowing. “I see the way you look at me. I know, Louis. I’m not stupid. You want me. I know you do. Why can’t we?”

“Because.” Louis’s voice broke embarrassingly, as he backed away from everything he’d ever wanted. “Because you’ve had too much to drink. I can’t. I just…I can’t.”

Harry seemed to collapse into himself, and his face crumpled. “Can’t? Or won’t? What are you afraid of, Lou?”

Suddenly Louis was fed up. It seemed too much to bear, to be asked to turn down his heart’s desire, because it was the **right thing to do.** “Harry! Jesus, come on. Let’s just…go to bed, okay. We can’t talk about this now. We can talk about this tomorrow, okay? When you’re sober. And not hungover.” His heart shuddered, and then stilled. Because he knew. They wouldn’t have this discussion tomorrow. In the morning, Harry would be embarrassed, wouldn’t meet his eyes, would shift and stumble over his words. Or he’d pretend to or worse, actually, notremember his fervent pleas. He could already see it happening in his mind’s eye.

Harry stilled, and then looked up with the sweetest, gentlest smile Louis had ever seen, and he’d seen Harry Styles playing with kittens, so that really meant something.“You don’t believe me, do you? Well. Okay. This isn’t going away, Lou. This isn’t because of the alcohol, that’s just getting me the courage to tell you. I’ve wanted you since the day Jamie showed me your headshot. Then when I met you at the party. It was like **time stopped,** Louis, when I saw you, and I know you felt the same. I know it!”

Louis shook his head and moved off the bed. “You're drunk, darling. I’m gonna get you some water and some ibuprofen, love, okay?”

He heard Harry’s groan of annoyance as he moved into the bathroom and rummaged in his travel kit, and then filled the glass of water and moved back into the room. After he’d gotten the water and ibuprofen into Harry, and set up the trash can next to the bed just in case, he brushed his teeth and changed into his sleep clothes, thin cotton pants and an old t-shirt, and climbing into bed next to Harry, who was now out cold and snoring obliviously, he turned away from him and went to sleep.


	8. New Year’s Day or…It will all come out in the wash.

Louis awoke to the sound of silence in the room, and when he rolled over, realized he was alone in the bed. Judging by the light coming in the window, it was late in the morning, and as he stretched, realized he was hungry. He rooted around on the bedside table, and found his phone. As he picked it up to check the the time, a text from Harry chimed through.“I already ate and showered, I’m hitting the slopes, see you this afternoon.”

Louis rolled over, feeling defeated as his worst expectations were realized. Harry remembered. He was embarrassed and distancing himself. Louis quickly texted back a thumbs up, and tossing his phone aside, headed to the shower.

By the time the evening rolled around, Louis had moved out of embarrassment and into annoyance. Even if things were awkward, it was kind of uncool for Harry to ditch him for the entire day. It only got worse when Louis _stupidly_ logged onto Twitter and saw snap after snap of Harry with adoring fans, taken out on the slopes that very day. 

When Louis came across the snap of Harry with a gorgeous man in top-level ski gear, he snapped and texted Harry.

:Where the hell are you?

:Just getting off the elevator.

And with that, Louis heard the snick of the key in the lock, and the door opened, and Harry came into the room.

Harry also looked irritated, and before Louis could say anything he huffed out a sigh and said “What? Your text sounded annoyed?”

Louis widened his eyes in mock shock, or, as he liked to think of it, shmock.“What? No, not at all! I love being ditched for the ENTIRE FUCKING DAY by my fake boyfriend.”

Harry glared, “well, as your FAKE FUCKING BOYFRIEND, I think I can actually do whatever I want!”

Louis rose to his feet from the bed, tossing his book aside. “What the actual fuck, Harry! We weren’t supposed to get papped alone, and I see all these pictures on Twitter!”

Harry dropped his gear. “Just…drop it, Lou. C’mon.” 

Louis actually felt his vision haze over with anger. _Interesting, I didn’t know that was a real thing._ In a strangled snarl, he said “Harry, if you don’t want to play along any more, fine, but thanks for fucking HUMILIATING me along the way!”  


At that, Harry turned red and exploded. “Humiliate you? WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK! Lou, if anyone was humiliated, IT WAS ME!”

Louis sat down in shock, and felt his jaw drop, utterly dumfounded. “What? What the hell are you talking about?

Harry seemed to collapse within himself, and not meeting Louis’s eyes, shucked off his jacket and sat gingerly down on the bed next to Louis.

“I just…jeez Lou, I fucking threw myself at you last night, and you…you turned me down. I guess I was just…embarrassed. I guess I just misread everything.”

“Wait.” Louis help up a hand to get a moment to think. “What are you talking about? I didn’t turn you down. You were *drunk* Harry. I couldn’t start anything with someone impaired, it’s not right. And anyway, you told me that you weren’t looking for anything real right now!”

As Harry started at him, momentarily speechless, Louis gazed thoughtfully back at him. “Wait, I thought maybe you were going to play the ‘I was so drunk, can’t remember anything card.’” He looked carefully at Harry. “But…you’re not.” He felt a smile spread unbidden across his face.

Harry’s face was open and as naked and vulnerable as Louis could imagine, but a smile was now lurking at the corners of his mouth. Louis’s heart started to pound. “Louis. C’mon. You’re going to have to spell it out for me. What are you saying here?”

Louis took a deep breath. “Harry. Haz. I’m saying…the absolutely only reason I said no last night was because you were drunk. THAT’S IT.”

Harry began to smile, and then grin as he listens. “So…if I were sober, what you’re saying is…you wouldn’t turn me down? What if I said that whole not looking for anything right now, that was before I knew…you. Would you still say no?”

Cheeks flaming and feeling oddly shy, Louis looks down and then says softly, “I don’t think I could say no to you for anything, H.”

There’s a moment of silence, and all of a sudden, Louis knew. This was it. This was the moment when everything changed, the fulcrum between before and after. No matter what happened next, nothing would be the same. As Harry took a breath, Louis waited, wondering what he was going to do.

Harry looked over at him. “I think…I want to take you to dinner. A *real* date.” He looked suddenly nervous, young and unsure. “Do you..would you like that too?”

Louis could only nod helplessly as he smiled.“Yeah. I would.”

….

Harry decided that he would shower first and change in the bathroom, and then head down to the restaurant to get them a table, while Louis showered and changed. He insisted that Louis not look when he passed through the room, and Louis, cackling madly, agreed, hiding his face in the pillows until he heard the door close. He headed into the bathroom, and met his own eyes, wide and shining in the bathroom mirror.

….

Louis stepped off the elevator into the resort lobby, and, as if drawn by a magnet, locked eyes with Harry standing on the other side of the room by the restaurant door. Louis smiled to himself - Harry was wearing another of his ridiculous sheer, floral shirts and shiny boots, and Louis’s heart started to pound as he realized that maybe tonight, he’d get to lay hands on what lay under that shirt.

Conversation at dinner at first felt stilted, with each man lapsing into silence as he gazed into the other’s eyes, until Louis inadvertently made a joke about balls, and Harry snorted with laughter, and the tension lifted, until the meal drew to a close, when suddenly the air was thick with understanding.

“So…” Harry said, after he signed the check, and they’d tossed napkins on the table and stood up, preparing to leave. 

Louis feigned innocence. “So? Yes? What's next on the agenda? Did you have…thoughts?” He glanced sideways up at Harry through his lashes, a look he’s not ashamed to admit that he’s practiced in the mirror more than once. It’s one that suits him, he knows.

Harry looked back like he saw right through Louis’s moves and wanted him anyway. He crowded into Louis’s space, and Louis was suddenly aware that even though Harry was younger, he was actually bigger than Louis, broad shoulders and strong arms moving close, as Louis caught his breath.

“Yeah.” Harry was laughing, as he casually draped an arm around Louis and steered him towards the elevator. “Yeah, Lou, I’ve got…thoughts.”


	9. Ringing in the New Year in Style(s)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Writing smut is a bit embarrassing, but I gave it a go.

Louis stood tucked into Harry’s side as they both stared straight ahead, waiting for the elevator doors to open. When they did, the two men moved into the elevator in tandem, both turning to face the doors.Louis saw Fit Bobby from the night before, tending bar. He was watching both of them with a knowing smirk, and as the doors closed, hiding him from view, Louis felt his cheeks flame. 

All this was forgotten, however, because as soon as the doors closed, Harry was on him. Louis found himself shoved up against the wall, with Harry’s mouth on his, hot and insistent. Stunned, Louis just stood there for a moment. Harry pulled back a bit, and taking in the look of stunned amazement on Louis face, snickered. “Catch up, Lou, c’mon.” 

Well then. Okay, yes, Louis could do that. This time, Harry held his gaze, as he lowered his mouth to Louis’s again. He tasted of wine, and chocolate, and something else, something so delicious and uniquely Harry that Louis gasped, his mouth opening, and Harry took advantage to slide his tongue into Louis’s mouth. Louis closed his eyes as the world spun around him. He felt the elevator stop, heard the doors open, heard a gasp and a snort of laughter as someone said “Err, excuse us, yeah, we’ll just…take the next one.” Harry reached out without removing his mouth from Louis’s to push blindly at the Close Door buttons. Unfortunately he seemed first to hit the Open Door, and Louis knew that at some point in his life, he might remember the laughter from the hallway with embarrassment, but right now he just pulled away from Harry to push frantically at the close door button. “What’s our floor, Harry, jesus!”

Harry burst out laughing as he realized that in his haste to get his mouth on Louis, he hadn’t actually selected a floor, and they’d gone past their desired exit. Harry quickly selected their floor, and the elevator moved.When the doors opened, Harry stumbled out into the hallway, yanking Louis off balance after him. They ran down the hallway, ignoring the curious looks of a couple exiting their room. As Louis dug in his pocket for the room key, he had a moment of deja-vu. Harry was again draped over him, pressing kisses into the sensitive skin on his neck, and muttering “hurry hurry!”

Unlike the night before, however, he was sober. As was Louis, as off-balanced as he felt. _This is happening, this is really…happening!_

They exploded through the door and tumbled into the room, shoes and shirts flying as they headed for the bed. Harry suddenly paused, and grabbed Louis’s hand from the button of his jeans. Louis froze and panicked. “Oh God, no, it’s too much, right? Too fast? We don’t have to do anything else, Haz! Whatever you want! Maybe we should talk about it?” Louis could hear his frantic babble but was helpless to stem it. “I don’t even know what you like? If you’d even want to, you know, do more? I just…”

His voice trailed off as Harry gently pressed two fingers to his lips. “Shhhh. Breath, Lou, I think you’re panicking.” Louis stopped talking, stared wide eyed at Harry, and then inhaled on a gasp.

“And…” Harry’s voice deepened as he reached over and unbuttoned Louis’s jeans, which was. Well. That was a development. “As for what I like? I like you, Louis. And what I want? I want…everything.”

There was a moment of silence, and then Louis took another deep breath, willing himself not to whimper as Harry drew down the zipper on his jeans. “Um. Yeah. Okay. I can…um, I can…” he heard himself moan as Harry’s long fingers brushed over the head of his cock, which already stood to attention. “I can…ungh….work with that.”

Harry gave him a sweet smile, and let him go, to shimmy out of his own skinny jeans. “That sounds good. Like…we’re in agreement?”

Louis paused from tugging down his pants and burst out laughing. “Oh man, I think we might be a bit ridiculous.” He kicked his jeans off to the side and stood, looking at Harry, as he straightened up, clad only in tight boxer briefs. He felt his throat go dry as he took in the long lean lines of his boy _HIS BOY,_ the bulge of his biceps, the cut of his abs, and the….very interesting looking situation in his briefs. Louis knew he was staring, and couldn’t help himself as he licked his lips. He raised his eyes up to Harry’s face again, breathless at the desire he read there. Another moment of silence, and then they both leapt towards the other, meeting in the middle in a clash of teeth and grabbing hands.

Harry spun Louis towards the bed as he went to work on the soft skin under Louis’s ear, nibbling and sucking, then running a tongue over the mark. Harry pushed Louis backwards and down on to the bed, and then stretched out on top of him, pressing skin to skin, framing Louis’s shoulders with his arms.They started at each other, and then Louis reached up, and traced Harry’s eyebrow, skimmed his hand over Harry’s cheek, and then pulled him down for another kiss.Harry came eagerly, and for some long moments, they lay together not moving, simply exploring the taste of each other. Louis ran his hands over Harry’s back, snickering as he remembered his own drunken thoughts about the anatomy of the human back. 

“Heeeeeey…” Harry drawled, “are you laughing at me?” He mock-pouted for a moment, and goddamn if seeing his lips, already kiss-swollen, thrust out like that didn’t give Louis Ideas. Very bad ideas. “If you laugh at me, I might get insecure about my….technique.”

Louis tried to form a sentence, “I, umh, I do not that think your technique is going to be an issue, Harry.”

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind, from their conversation that first night at Mark’s party. “Um, Harry? Can I ask you something?”

Harry pulled back a bit, hearing the change in Louis’s tone. “Of course, love. You can ask me anything.”

Louis said awkwardly, “well, um, you said that time we talked that you hadn’t had a lot of…opportunities to explore. Maybe you should just tell me what you want? How far you want this to go?”

Harry’s gaze softened more, if that was even possible, and he just shook his head. “I already told you, Lou. I want everything. I want to touch you, I want you to touch me. I want your mouth on me,” Louis’s eyes widened, and he felt his heart rate increase, “I want your…” Harry’s breath hitched and his eyes darkened, “I want your fingers in me, I want your **cock** in me, fucking me until I come just from that. I want to open you up and fuck you as soft or hard as you want, jerk you off until you make *such* a mess of yourself, I want you to eat me out until I can’t even take it…” Louis’s mind began to spin as he felt himself grow impossibly harder at the pictures Harry’s words painted in his mind. “But what about you, Lou. What do you want.”

Louis whispered, “I want that too…all of it. All those things you said. And Harry?” Harry quirked an eyebrow but didn’t say anything, “I kind of want all that RIGHT FUCKING NOW. So, can we…” Louis shifted so that their clothed cocks rubbed together in delicious friction, “you know, get on with that?”

Harry nodded enthusiastically, and his mouth fell open in a silent moan as Louis shifted his hips again. “Okay, okay” he said frantically, “But…how do you want it first?”

“Well,” Louis murmered, “You know I’m an orderly soul,” (Harry’s eyes crinkled with laughter at that blatant lie), “So…why don’t we just go down your list in order, huh? So, the touching thing. Then your mouth on my…parts.Then…” His voice dropped without thinking, “then, Harry, I’m gonna fuck you.” At his words, Harry’s eyes dropped closed and he seemed almost to stop breathing. 

Then, “yeah, yeah, YEAH - get ON with it!”

….

Louis pushed Harry onto his back, and moved to straddle him. He took a moment just to admire the gorgeous boy laid out beneath him, noting the tattoos, the rapid throb of the pulse in Harry’s neck, which, Louis thought, seemed like a good place to start. He leaned over and began pressing kisses down Harry’s jaw, tasting the remnants of his cologne, the sweat and taste of Harry he’d begun to recognize. Harry lay still, and Louis could almost hear his heart pounding. Louis worked his way down to Harry’s neck, kissing and then nipping lightly at the delicate skin there. As he bowed over Harry’s neck, he slid his lower body down, so he was lying sprawled on top of Harry’s hard chest, pressing their clothed cocks together.Harry moaned, long and low, as Louis pressed down, so he did it again.

Louis worked his way down Harry’s body, working him over with both hands and mouth, learning what kind of touch made him jump and giggle, what touch made him squirm, and particularly enjoying hearing more of those broken, guttural moans.

As he approached Harry’s cock, he traced Harry’s length through the cloth of his underwear and then said roughly, “Fuck it, Harry, too many clothes, get these off, love!” Harry hastened to kick his briefs off, and Louis’s soon followed.

“Jesus, Harry, even your dick is gorgeous!” Louis licked a long stripe from the base to the head of Harry’s cock to emphasize his words, and Harry threw one arm over his eyes, and gave what sounded suspiciously like a sob. Louis kissed Harry’s inner thigh gently, feeling the muscles quiver under his tongue, and then, without warning sucked Harry’s length down as far as he could go. Louis had to admit, he *loved* sucking cock. He didn’t enjoy deep throating, but something about sucking the head of a dick into his mouth, running his tongue over the slit, tasting the pre-come, just really got him going. He lost himself the taste and sensation of Harry in his mouth, listening to Harry’s whimpers and moans as Louis worked himself on and off Harry’s long length.

All too soon, Harry was grabbing at Louis’s shoulders, and saying urgently, “STOP STOP, oh GOD, fuck! Louis, I’m gonna come, I don’t want to come yet, LOUIS!” Louis reluctantly pulled off, and took a breather. “Isn’t coming the point, love?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry said frantically, “But that’s not on the list! Not this time!” 

  
Louis stared at him blankly and then remembered, “Oh yeah…the list.” He looked quizzically at Harry, wondering it was actually possible to die from sexual arousal, “What’s next on the agenda, then, love?”

Harry pulled away from Louis, stood up, rummaged in one of his bags, and pulled out a bottle of lube and a box of condoms.“I believe,” he said thoughtfully, “next is…fingers. And fucking.”

“Well,” said Louis, his heart racing as he pressed down on his throbbing cock, “Far be it for me to get off-task.”

Harry settled back onto the bed, and pressed a kiss against Louis’s mouth. “How do you want me, then?” Louis couldn’t ever remember sex being this way with anyone else, both so potent and yet, so *fun*.“On your back, love” he said gently.He carefully opened the bottle of lube, and slicking up the fingers of his right hand, he carefully drifted his hand down Harry’s leg, feeling the muscles contract under his light touch.As he leaned down, he slid one finger between Harry’s legs, and as he ghosted his hands over Harry’s hole, he sucked the tip of Harry’s cock back in between his lips.

Harry gasped, let his legs sprawl open, and moaned, “Oh FUCK, Louis. That’s, oh god.” Louis pressed gently against Harry’s entrance, pushing in past the initial resistance.Harry stiffened, and Louis gave him another strong suck, feeling Harry’s walls relax a bit around his probing finger. Louis moved his finger gently, and then pushed deeper, listening to Harry’s moans. He crooked his finger experimentally, and when Harry practically screamed and came off the bed, he paused in his sucking, “So, there we go.”

Harry fell back, moaning loudly, “C’mon Lou, Jesus, another, just, yeah, like that, baby.” Louis added more lube and a second finger slipped in more easily.  Louis continued to open Harry up while he worked him over with his tongue. Harry hissed when Louis added finger #3, and Louis paused uncertainly. “Okay, H? I don’t want to hurt you.”

Harry gave an inarticulate growl and then said “Yeah, do not fucking stop or I swear I will kick you in the head! It’s just…it’s been…you know, a while.”

“But, you have done this before, like this, right, Haz?”

Harry met Louis’s gaze, looking open and vulnerable. “Well, um, not exactly, no.”

“What?” Louis gasped, pulled his fingers out, ignoring Harry’s whimpered “OH COME ON, PLEASE LOU.”

“Harry, if this is your first time…are you sure? I mean…” he paused helplessly, trying to articulate how he felt, “Don’t you want it to be…real?”

Harry froze, hurt filling his eyes as he searched Louis’s face. “Wait, what? Louis. I thought this was…” his voice trailed off.

Louis realized his mistake as soon as he said the words, “No, NO. Harry, jesus, it couldn’t be more real for me.” Harry relaxed marginally beside him. “I just, Harry, it’s special, I want it to be so special for you. Are you sure?”

Harry stared at him, “Lou, what part of ‘I want your cock in me’ is ambiguous? This *is* special to me, isn’t it for you?”

Louis couldn’t contain his heart any longer. “Harry, god. Okay, then. Yes.”He leaned over and pressed a kissed to Harry’s mouth, nibbling until Harry opened up for him, and the kiss became more and more heated. They broke apart, both gasping, and Harry mumbled into Louis’ neck, “So will you GET ON WITH IT PLEASE?!”

Louis slipped back down Harry’s body, murmuring, “Well, since you did ask so nicely,” and sucked Harry back into his mouth as he slipped two fingers back inside. He brushed them over Harry’s prostate again and again, two fingers then three, until Harry was arching off the bed, and thrusting himself down onto Louis’s fingers.

“I’m ready, Lou, jesus, I’m so ready!” Harry finally said, sounding like he was begging, “Please Louis, just, I need *more* - get in me, NOW!”

Louis drew back and wiped his fingers off on the bedspread, mentally apologizing to the housekeepers for the scene they’d be dealing with tomorrow. “Yeah, okay, love. I’ve got you.” He grabbed a condom, noting, “I admire your optimism for packing these!” Harry glared at him as Louis rolled the condom on to his rock-hard cock, hissing slightly at the contact. “Hey, no! I did the same thing!” They both laughed, and then Harry froze as Louis lined himself up and pressed against Harry.

“Are you sure, H?”

Louis looked at Harry, and Harry looked back, the trust shining in his eyes. “I am. I’m so sure. Please, I feel like I’ve been waiting for you forever.” Harry gasped as Louis pressed forward, pushing the head of his cock past the ring of muscles. They both froze, and Louis willed himself not to come on the spot, as the most incredible heat and pressure surrounded him. He pushed slowly forward, as Harry’s mouth opened in surprise. “Oh,” he said, staring at Louis, wide-eyed, “Oh god, I didn’t know. Please Louis, more.” Louis pushed through the heat until he bottomed out, and thought he might cry from the beauty of it. _His first time, oh my god._ Overcome with awe at the moment, he pulled out slowly, and then, when Harry nodded, he pushed back in, brushing over Harry’s prostate again.Harry moaned, long and broken, and then hissed, “GO.” 

Louis went. As he and Harry moved together, Louis could feel his own orgasm building. “Harry,” he chanted, and shifted Harry’s hips a bit under his to change the angle, and Harry let out something close to a howl.

“Oh god, LIKE THAT LOUIS, JUST LIKE THAT!”

Louis felt the heat rising in his belly, as he thrust in again and again, pressing into Harry in exactly the right way.All of a sudden Harry’s incoherent babbling changed to a loud wordless moan, and then he was arching up, calling Louis’s name, and coming between them like a fountain.When Louis felt the wet heat between them, he lost his own rhythm. His hips stuttered once, twice, and then it felt like his belly went supernova, and he poured into the condom, and after a moment, collapsed onto Harry’s sticky body, suddenly too tired to move.

After a moment, he slowly pulled out, rolled over and dealt with the condom, and then willed himself into the bathroom to get a cloth.As Louis came back to the bed and carefully wiped Harry down with a warm washcloth, he suddenly became concerned, as Harry was lying still, with his arm over his eyes. Louis touched him gently, “Um, Harry? Was that okay…are you all right?” _Oh god, what if it was terrible, what if he hated it?_ Harry’s belly began to shake and Louis’s heart sank, was Harry crying? 

Harry lifted his arm from his face, and to Louis’s vast relief, he was not crying. He was, in fact, laughing. “Was that okay? WAS THAT OKAY?!? Jesus, Lou, I think I forgot my own name. Can you get amnesia from amazing sex?”

Louis breathed a sighed and then smacked Harry lightly. “You scared me, jeez! I thought you were upset!”

Harry smiled. “The only thing I’m upset about is that we haven’t been doing this all along! Lou…” his voice softened, the warmth unmistakeable, “that was, it was incredible. I’ve never ever felt like that before.” He wrapped his arms around Louis, pulling him into his side. 

“Me either, Harry,” Louis murmured, pressing his face into Harry’s shoulder, “Me either.”


	10. Back to life, Back to reality & Epilogue

The next day, both Louis and Harry realized that they hadn’t checked their phones in hours, and, worse, that they were headed back to LA later that afternoon.They spent most of the day checking in with their teams, all of whom were absolutely THRILLED with the pictures from New Year’s Eve, including one of Harry looking like he was trying to devour Louis in the bar. Another source had commented on their speedy departure from the restaurant on New Year’s Day, saying “Yeah, they couldn’t get out of there fast enough, and they just went straight back up to their room, and no one saw them for the rest of the night.” Louis hoped Bobby had gotten some compensation for his statement, but couldn’t find it in his heart to be annoyed. In the midst of the bustle of taking one last run down the slopes, trying to get everything back into their suitcases, and then getting their car to the airport, Louis felt that he and Harry barely had a moment to talk, but it was okay. They kept catching each other’s glance, sharing a small private smile, and couldn’t seem to stand within a few feet of each other without needing to touch. Louis felt his heart expanding until it seemed like it might just explode out of his chest in a shower of heart eyes and glitter.

The trip back was long, but went as smoothly as these things could go, and it wasn’t until they were through customs in LA and waiting for their bags, people covertly and less subtly taking their picture with their phones, that it occurred to Louis that maybe he should see what Harry was thinking about where they were going to go from here.

“Um, Harry?” even to his own ears, his voice sounded weird and tentative. Harry looked up. “Have you…um, I mean, we didn’t really talk about…you know, what’s next?”

Harry looked nervous, running his hand through his hair. “Well, um…I know the contract for the stunt is up in 10 days…”

Louis blanched. _Stunt? What was Harry talking about? Surely he knew how Louis felt about it him! Louis had told him it was real. Harry had said it was real too, but what did that mean?_ Before he could stop, he heard himself babbling exactly that as Harry’s gaze moved from nervous to amused, and then to such fondness that Louis found himself breathless, and then pulled into a tight embrace. Harry pressed his face into Louis’s shoulder and murmured, “Oh God, Lou, me too, yes, me too. It was real, the most real.” Harry pulled back, and then that filthy smirk spread over his face as he leaned in and whispered in Louis’s ear, “Besides, we didn’t get to everything on my agenda. I’m not done with you yet.”

Louis closed his eyes in overwhelmed relief, and then said softly, “Well, like I said, I’m an orderly soul, and far be it for me to skip over any agenda items.”

**Epilogue**

**10…9…8…** Louis heard the crowd around him chanting and he reached out behind him, and felt familiar fingers thread into his own, and then strong arms were wrapped around him. 

**7…6…5…** Louis felt warm breath on his neck and automatically tilted his head to the side to give Harry access, and grinned as Harry’s lips pressed kisses into the soft skin. 

The past year had been, well, amazing.Louis and Harry had informed their teams that the stunt had gotten more real than anticipated, but as it’d gotten them the attention they’d been looking for, no one was too upset. It turned out Michael Gideon had taken notice, had in fact already had Louis in mind for the role of Evan, the sensitive poet turned soldier, who falls in love and is then tragically shot down over France, in his WWII epic. They’d filmed all Spring and into the summer, and it had been some of the most fun Louis had ever had filming, not to mention some of the most challenging work he’d ever done. 

Harry’s band released their new album to critical acclaim, and the band had kicked off their tour in the summer. While being apart was hard on their relationship, they’d made it work. Louis had spent the Fall joining Harry’s tour for a week or so a time. Now they were in awards season, and true to form, Louis was one of several actors from the ensemble cast nominated. He’d been placed in the Best Supporting Actor category, but he was not complaining. The awards nods had catapulted him to a different level of fame, and the world’s fascination with Harry and his relationship continued unabated. Louis didn’t love the challenges of fame, but loved the offers that were coming his way for interesting and complex parts, parts that would challenge him as an artist.  Louis admitted that it was, perhaps, shallow of him to be enjoying this "private vacation" on a yacht in the Caribbean, but when Mark had suggested it cautiously, he and Harry had high-fived and shouted "achievement unlocked!"

**4…3…2…** Harry spun Louis around, and whispered, “I’m sad to see this year go, it’s been…” a grin crossed his face, “an orderly sort of year.”

**1** As the crowd erupted around them, Louis looked at Harry, and then, grinning, reached into his pocket. As he flipped open the box, displaying the beautiful, simple platinum ring inside, he said, “So, how’d you feel about leveling up from boyfriend…to fiancé?”

**Author's Note:**

> My very first fanfic here. If you enjoyed it, PLEASE comment!


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